Eduardo Mata (5 September 19424 January 1995) was a Mexican conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Career

Mata was born in Mexico City. He studied

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

privately for three years before enrolling in the National Conservatory of Music. From 1960 to 1963 he studied composition under

Carlos Chávez Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conducting, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influence ...

, and Julián Orbón. In 1964 he received a Koussevitzky Memorial Fellowship to study at Tanglewood. There, he studied conducting with Max Rudolf and Erich Leinsdorf and composition with

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

. He composed several works in the 1950s and 1960s, including three symphonies and chamber works, which include

sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...

for piano and for cello and piano. His Third Symphony and some of his chamber works have been recorded. In 1965 he was appointed head of the Music Department of the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM) and conductor of the Guadalajara Orchestra; He also conducted the orchestra at the university, which later became the National Autonomous University of Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1972, he left Mexico to take the position of principal conductor of the Phoenix Symphony. The next year he was appointed the Phoenix ensemble's music director, holding that position through the 1977–78 season. In 1965, he was one of the founding members and later, honorary president of the Mahler Mexico Society (Sociedad Mahler México) and together with Mexico's National Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional), in October 1975 he conducted the first full cycle of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

's symphonies in Mexico. From 1977 to 1993 he was music director of the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra tr ...

and guest conductor of several orchestras in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. He recorded over fifty albums, most of them with the UNAM Symphony Orchestra, the

, and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. He was also appointed principal conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and was about to take up this post in January 1995 when he was killed. On the morning of 4 January 1995, Mata and a passenger were en route from

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi language, Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state, state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican civilizatio ...

, Morelos, to Dallas, Texas. Mata was piloting his own Piper Aerostar. One engine failed shortly after takeoff, and the plane crashed during an emergency landing attempt. Both died in the crash, near Mexico City.

Selected compositions

* Trio, for clarinet, drum, and cello, dedicated to Ralph Vaughan Williams (1957) * Sonata, for piano (1960) * ''Improvisaciones'', for clarinet and piano (1961) * Symphony No. 1 (1962) * "Débora", ballet suite (1963) * ''Los huesos secos'' (The Dry Bones), ballet (1963) * Symphony No. 2 (1963) * ''Aires'' (1964) * ''Improvisación número 1'', for string quartet and piano four-hands (1964) * ''Improvisación número 2'', for strings and two pianos (1965) * ''Improvisación número 3'', for violin and piano (1965) * Sonata, for cello (1966), dedicated to Adolfo Odnoposoff * Symphony No. 3, for winds and horn (1966)

Selected discography

Mata compositions * Symphony No. 3, for wind orchestra and solo horn. Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM,

RCA Red Seal RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment. History The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.RCA Red Seal RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment. History The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.970

References

Sources * * * * * * * * * * *

, 4 vols. London: Macmillan. (set); . , . * Anon. 1992. ''Who's Who in Entertainment,'' second edition (1992–1993). Wilmette, Illinois: Marquis Who's Who. . * Anon. 1993a. "Eduardo Mata". '' International Who's Who'', 57th edition (1993–94). London: Europa Publications. . . * Anon. 1993b. "Eduardo Mata". ''Who's Who in the South and Southwest,'' 23rd edition (1993–94). New Providence, New Jersey: Marquis Who's Who. . * Anon. 1996. "Eduardo Mata". ''Who Was Who in America: A Companion Biographical Reference Work to Who's who in America'' 11 (1993–1996). Chicago:

. . * Anon. 1998. ''Latin American Lives: Selected Biographies from the Five-Volume Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture''. Macmillan Compendium. New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA. . . * Anon. 2001. "Mata". '' Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 9th edition, edited by Laura Diane Kuhn, 6 vols. London: Macmillan; New York: G. Schirmer. . * Cornell, Charles R., and Rene J. Montalvo (eds.). 2002. '' Biography Index,'' 27 (September 2001 – August 2002). New York: H. W. Wilson Company. . * Ficher, Miguel, Martha Furman Schleifer, and John M. Furman (eds.). 2002. ''Latin American Classical Composers,'' second edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. . * Gaster, Adrian (ed.) 1990. '' International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory'', 12th edition. Cambridge, UK: International Who's Who in Music. . * Marquis, Albert Nelson, and Marquis Who's Who, Inc. 1993. "Eduardo Mata". ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

'', 48th edition (1994), 3 vols. New Providence, New Jersey: Marquis Who's Who. . * Slonimsky, Nicolas (ed.). 1997. ''Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians''. New York: G. Schirmer. . * Stevenson, Joseph. 2005a. "Dallas Symphony Orchestra". ''All Music Guide to Classical Music'', edited by Chris Woodstra, Gerald Brennan, and Allen Schrott, 339–340. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. . . * Unterburger, Amy L., and Jane L. Delgado (eds.). 1994. ''Who's Who among Hispanic Americans'', third edition (1994–95), foreword by Ricardo R. Fernández. Detroit: Gale Research. . * Vinton, John (ed.). 1974. ''Dictionary of Contemporary Music''. New York: E. P. Dutton. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Mata, Eduardo 1942 births 1995 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Mexico Classical musicians from Texas Mexican male conductors (music) Members of El Colegio Nacional (Mexico) Mexican classical composers Mexican male composers Musicians from Mexico City 20th-century Mexican conductors (music) 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1995 Music directors of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Career

Selected compositions

Selected discography

References

Further reading